Continental News

Castelplanio, Italy- The IGSA Verdicchio European Championships got underway today here in Castelplanio. We are in a beautiful part of Italy in the region of Marche known as Verdicchio.

120 participants had fun learning the new 2,7 km track full of turns, hairpins and sweapers. Practice runs took place in the morning and riders had 4 runs to get used to the road. We were about to start first qualification run when we encountered radio frequency problems and could not communicate from start to finish.

Once this problem was solved qualifying began. Mysteriously, after we successfully ran the first four qualification runs, our wireless timing system encountered frequency problems of its' own. After spending 30 minutes trying to sort it out, we decided to cancel the days qualification so we could sort everything out.

The riders were invited to practice for the rest of the day. We will run both qualification runs on Saturday. One this morning, the other in the afternoon. Patrick Switzer, the dominating champion of the last three World Cup races injured his ankle this past week and will not be racing. Christoph Batt is one of the serious contenders. He is back after 3 months due to a broken arm and felt confident yesterday. He will be one of the riders to watch out this week end.